


shatter me (the ring you wear remix)

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Amnesia, M/M, Married Couple, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29595990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: The last time Tony was this hammered was after his disastrous birthday party while fending off an early death. The last time he was this confused was while trying to fight off aliens invading New York. And the last time he was this hammeredandthis confused was in undergrad.Something's wrong.Tony wakes up from a battle completely disoriented. Nat and Steve help him ground himself.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50
Collections: 2021 Captain America/Iron Man Remix Madness





	shatter me (the ring you wear remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starksnack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksnack/gifts).
  * Inspired by [loved you twice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22464592) by [starksnack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksnack/pseuds/starksnack). 
  * In response to a prompt by [starksnack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksnack/pseuds/starksnack) in the [2021_Cap_Ironman_Remix_Madness](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/2021_Cap_Ironman_Remix_Madness) collection. 



> Written for starksnack for the Cap-IM Remix Madness Exchange.

The last time Tony was this hammered was after his disastrous birthday party while fending off an early death. The last time he was this confused was while trying to fight off aliens invading New York. And the last time he was this hammered _and_ this confused was in undergrad.

Something's wrong.

Tony opens his eyes, wincing at the light. The lights are turned down low, but it's still too much. He turns his head to the right out of instinct alone to find Steve Rogers, of all people, sitting at his bedside. He's got his arms crossed over his chest, his fist clenched around something, and a deep wrinkle in his forehead over his eyes. Tony wants to smooth it away.

The thought startles him. He and Rogers are better coworkers than they were that first time around, but there's no reason to feel an urge to reach out to him. And even if there were — which there _isn't_ — he'd never act on it.

So why does it feel like he has?

"Finally awake, Stark?"

Tony turns to see Nat sitting in the chair opposite Steve. "Romanoff?" Tony starts coughing loud enough to wake Steve.

"Tony?" Steve asks. Tony turns to Steve. He grabs a cup of water and holds it out toward Tony.

Tony takes a few careful sips, keeping his eyes on Steve's face. The groove in his forehead has smoothed away. Steve removes the cup before Tony's ready to speak. That doesn't mean he's going to let Rogers get the upper hand. He turns back to Natasha. "What happened?"

There's a minute shift in Nat's expression that makes Tony's stomach twist, but she answers his question regardless. "You took a bad hit in a fight. Went down harder than we were expecting. Steve got to you, but JARVIS had already called EMS because your vitals were all over the place. They got you out of there and up to the hospital. You were in surgery for fifteen hours and then in an induced coma for another three days."

"You really scared me." Rogers's voice is soft. It's jarring, but not unwelcome. He's leaning in close over Tony, brushing the bangs from his forehead. Tony leans up into the touch until he thinks better of it. Until he remembers that this is Captain America — _Steve Rogers_ — his teammate and the straight-as-an-arrow American national icon. He pulls away, biting the inside of his cheek.

"I'm fine."

In hindsight, he'll always wonder how Nat figured it out so fast.

"Tony." Tony looks back at Nat, who's looking at him with her shrewdest expression. "What's the date today?"

"Between the surgery and the coma, somewhere in the sixteenth to seventeenth range," Tony says with a frown. "Why?"

"The year, Tony. What's the year."

That same twisting sensation returns to Tony's stomach. "2013."

Steve freezes, but before Tony can ask what's going on, Steve makes a wounded noise and pulls away. "What?" There's a thickness in Steve's voice, like he doesn't seem to know what to do with himself. "Tony, you— _what_?"

"Well, given your reaction I'm guessing it isn't 2013. How much time am I missing?"

Steve blinks hard before leaving the room, his right hand still fisted at his side. He doesn't slam the door — too damn good for that — but Tony can feel the gulf the closed door represents regardless. If he thought he could move on his own, Tony would be out of bed and in the hall at his side right now, though the impulse is strange. He turns and looks at Nat, who doesn't hide her expression of shock in time.

"Nat. What happened?"

"It must have been Doom," she says, shaking her head. "Clint's been down there with him since he knocked you out of the sky with his tech, but we haven't gotten anything out of him. But this must be what his latest machine does. Takes the memories of anyone that's hit by it."

"Nat."

She sighs. She can tell when she's been made. "You lost nine years, Tony."

Tony inhales sharply. "Nine— _fuck_."

Natasha nods. "A lot's changed, Tony. More than you know."

"Any of it have to do with why Steve was here when I woke up?"

"Can't get anything past you, can we?" She leans forward, bracing her elbows on her knees and clasping her hands between them. "You're married. To Steve."

"… Come again?"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, but. That can't be right. He's Captain America, and I'm... me."

Nat's face twists. "I swear, if I could go back and rewrite that damn report I would do it in a heartbeat."

"You didn't say anything that wasn't true."

Nat fixes him with a piercing stare. "That's bullshit and you know it. You're the best of us, Tony. Always have been. And Steve would say the same thing," she adds when Tony opens his mouth to argue.

Tony closes his mouth, thinking. "He really settled for me?"

"He _chose_ you, Tony."

"Well then, maybe you should bring him back in here so he can tell me that himself."

Nat's face softens. "He's standing at the door?"

"If my instincts are right."

"And I'm sure they are." Nat kisses his temple. "You scared him. Be gentle."

Natasha opens the door, and Tony hears her smack Steve before shoving him back into the room. He meets Tony's eyes briefly, then looks away.

"She told you."

"She did." Tony lifts his left hand, marveling at how light it feels. "You got my ring?"

Steve winces and holds out his right hand, showing Tony the shattered remains of a tungsten ring. Something warm and knowing bubbles up in Tony's chest.

"Well. It's tradition to buy diamond jewelry for the tenth anniversary, isn't it?"

A slow grin spreads over Steve's face. "It is."

"What do you say we bust out of here, then?"

Steve laughs. "I say you've been unconscious for three days." And then, when Tony starts to argue, "Give it another twenty-four hours."


End file.
